Commercial Spaceflight Updates

2018 Updates

Blue Origin NEW SHEPARD Launch & Landing / Mission 9

New Shepard flew for the ninth time on July 18, 2018. During this mission, known as Mission 9 (M9), the escape motor was fired shortly after booster separation. The Crew Capsule was pushed hard by the escape test and we stressed the rocket to test that astronauts can get away from an anomaly at any time during flight. The mission was a success for both the booster and capsule. Most importantly, astronauts would have had an exhilarating ride and safe landing

VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo, completed its second successful supersonic, rocket-powered test flight on 29 May 2018, landing on the Mojave Air and Space Port. The rocket motor burned for the planned 31 seconds and propelled Unity to a speed of Mach 1.9 and an altitude of 114,500 ft.

2017 Updates

New Shepard flew again for the seventh time on Dec. 12, 2017, from Blue Origin's West Texas Launch Site. Known as Mission 7 (M7), the mission featured the next-generation booster and the first flight of Crew Capsule 2.0. Crew Capsule 2.0 features large windows, measuring 2.4 feet wide, 3.6 feet tall.

On May 1st, 2017 VSS Unity "feather" re-entry system was activated in flight for the first time. VSS Unity was piloted by Mark Stucky and Mike Masucci, with pilots Nicola Pecile and CJ Sturckow as well as flight test engineer Dustin Mosher in carrier aircraft VMS Eve.

THIS WILL SHOW LIVE and PRE-RECORDED FOOTAGE - As the Space Station passes into a period of night every 45 mins video is unavailable - during this time, and other breaks in transmission, recorded footage is shown . When back in daylight the live stream of earth will recommence Space is cool but it's also amazing!